Area Converter
Convert between square meters, square feet, acres, hectares, and more.
Cómo funciona
This converter handles area measurements across metric units (square millimeters through square kilometers, plus hectares) and imperial/US units (square inches through square miles, plus acres), converting through square meters as the common base unit.
Real estate and home measurements typically use square feet or square meters: a 2,000 sq ft house converts to roughly 185.8 square meters (dividing by 10.764, since 1 square meter ≈ 10.764 square feet) — a conversion that comes up constantly when comparing property listed in different countries' conventions.
Land area uses its own specialized units: an acre (≈4,046.86 square meters) and a hectare (exactly 10,000 square meters) are both common for larger plots of land, with roughly 2.47 acres to every hectare.
The acre has a genuinely old-fashioned origin: it was historically defined as the area of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a single day — a practical, work-based unit long before precise standardized measurement existed. It was only later standardized to its modern precise definition of 4,046.8564224 square meters.
For a sense of scale, a hectare is roughly the size of a soccer/football pitch's playing area (a bit larger, actually — a standard pitch is about 0.7 hectares), and an acre is a bit smaller than a standard American football field's playing area — useful mental benchmarks when a raw square-meter or square-foot number is hard to picture.
Because area is a two-dimensional measurement, converting it isn't as simple as converting a single length — area scales by the square of the linear conversion factor. Since 1 yard = 3 feet, 1 square yard isn't 3 square feet, but 3² = 9 square feet. This calculator handles that squaring automatically, but it's a useful thing to understand if you're ever estimating an area conversion by hand.
Country-specific quirks are common in area units too — the Chinese mu, the Indian bigha, and various other regional land units exist alongside the internationally standardized units this calculator covers, since land measurement historically developed independently in different agricultural traditions before modern standardization.
How many square meters are in an acre?
1 acre ≈ 4046.86 square meters.
Why doesn't area scale the same way as length when converting?
Because area is two-dimensional — converting a linear unit by a factor of 3 means the corresponding area unit converts by that factor squared (9), since both dimensions scale together.
Are there regional land units this converter doesn't cover?
Yes — many countries have historical or regional land units (like the Chinese mu or Indian bigha) that developed independently of the internationally standardized units (acres, hectares, square meters) this converter uses.
How many acres are in a hectare?
1 hectare ≈ 2.47 acres, since a hectare (10,000 sq meters) is larger than an acre (about 4,047 sq meters).
How do I convert square feet to square meters for a house listing?
Divide the square footage by approximately 10.764 (or multiply by about 0.0929) — a 2,000 sq ft house is roughly 185.8 square meters.
Where does the acre come from historically?
It originated as the area of land a yoke of oxen could plow in one day — a practical, labor-based measure later standardized to its modern precise definition.
What's a hectare roughly equivalent to in everyday terms?
Approximately the size of a soccer pitch's playing area (a standard pitch is slightly smaller, around 0.7 hectares) — a useful mental reference for visualizing land area.
Is a hectare bigger than an acre?
Yes — a hectare (10,000 sq meters) is about 2.47 times larger than an acre (about 4,047 sq meters).
How precise are these area conversions?
Fully precise, using each unit's internationally defined exact conversion factor, limited only by the display precision shown.
Can I convert between more than two units at once?
Yes — the "Quick reference" table below the main converter shows your entered value converted into every other supported area unit simultaneously.
How many square feet are in a square yard?
9 square feet equal 1 square yard, since a yard is 3 feet and area scales by the square of the linear conversion factor (3² = 9).